Business News

HONG KONG, (APP/AFP): Asia stocks fell Thursday tracking a
sell-off on Wall Street, as oil began to pull back after climbing to a new 2016 high.
Pessimism on trading floors followed weak earnings in the US and
Japan and a shaky performance in Asia Wednesday in which an early rally petered towards the end of the day.
Oil prices also failed to hold onto overnight gains which came after
official data showed a surprise drop in US commercial crude inventories.
The Nikkei was down 0.4 percent by the break with Toyota tumbling nearly three percent after warning that its annual net profit is set to fall by about a third, citing a stronger yen and emerging market slowdown.
The dollar eased to 108.52 yen, up from 108.39 yen on Wednesday in New York.
Scandal-hit Mitsubishi shares were untraded, but based on sell and buy orders it was set to surge 16 percent after Nissan Motor confirmed on Thursday that it was in talks for a capital tie-up with firm.
Hong Kong shed 0.5 percent and Shanghai lost 0.8 percent ahead of the
release of fresh economic indicators out of China this week.
A disappointing trade report at the weekend revived concerns about the world’s second largest economy, while there are fears Beijing will hold off introducing any fresh stimulus after a government warning over debt levels.
Sydney also slipped 0.5 percent and Seoul retreated 0.1 percent.
“There’s just enough out there to keep investors cautious,” Tim Schroeders, a portfolio manager in Melbourne at Pengana Capital Ltd. told Bloomberg News.